The ravens blood
by Star-Bunny-Honeybee
Summary: The world had been swallowed by the sea, leaving few to survive. Lia Ravntorn is one of those survivors, during her journey she finds a few to call friends, maybe one to call a lover. this is her story. Sorry for the sucky summary! PLEASE READ!
1. Preface: Five seconds

_One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six-_

Five seconds, that's all it took before you would never feel anything again. Not very long, not enough time to regret or to back out. Not enough time to rethink things or to lie to myself about the world that was falling apart around me.

The cold wind chilled across my face, while screams filled the air. The base line of death fell onto the ground. Most carrying children or loved ones; while the ones so hopelessly lost. Those human beings that didn't know what to do carry uselessly materialistic things such as t.v's or things that had been looted from the abandoned stores. I watched from the ridge line of an overpass along with others that absorbed the chaos below. We as a human race are pathetic in the midst of chaos; we can't cope with crises. The air was sharp with the sounds of panic. Glass shattered, people screamed, yelled, cried. Sirens wailed in the distance: the piercing melody of hope that would never arrive. We were a lost cause, and it was only a matter of time before the last few paramedics gave up the fight. There were too many to save.

The man to my left held some sort of morbid curiosity as he stared down at the woman on the ground under us with hands shaking idly as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. I glanced down at the girl, her arm contorted at an odd angle and the half the mass of her head splattered against the pavement like a smashed pumpkin. Some people tried to avoid her, though they were too absorbed in their own world. Their footsteps leaving a crimson trails as they scurried away.A practiced musical laugh bubbled out of my throat. The type of laugh from a girl who could mold the world to her liking; a laugh of a nineteen year old girl who loved watching romantic comedies and flirting with cute guys. Now the world was being swallowed up by the seas-people engulfed in the tide and taken into the deep- The storms had put out most of the fires but the rain had also caused over half the city to be flooded.

No one knew how far inland they would go, but if the floods didn't kill us, the storms would–or we might all starve to death. No one knew exactly what was coming would happen, but it was only a question of 'what' not 'if'. Already the climate had begun to shift, and every town within a hundred miles of the coastline was long past gone. The skies were dark all over the world with massive rainstorms–species everywhere were dying out–but I wasn't fazed by the fact.

We had done it, done what I did not know. The government told us little about what had happened but when it came down to it is that the last war that we had gotten into caused a chain reaction that had brought on the end of the world; an apocalypse.

My laugh was cut short by a the sound of a dull thud and sick crack of a body crashing against the pavement, the man next to me had jumped. The body lay strewn across the ground just like the woman. The woman who had probably lived a life with loved ones and normalcy, the woman who I had pushed off the overpass. The air of calm in my mind just made the statement that I had actually killed someone so much more like a dream. I had proved my point that the overpass was high enough to cause mortal damage.

I hadn't always been the type of girl to shove strangers off overpasses–not until today. I couldn't pinpoint when the change had happened, or what had triggered it. I might not have noticed it at all if I hadn't–

I rubbed my wrists in an idle movement, scrubbing a bit of dried blood from my skin. It didn't matter now. The point was, less than an hour later, the bleeding had stopped. Faint scars marred my skin, as if it had happened months ago–but it hadn't. It'd been only a few hours.

_What have I become?_

Something had changed in me during the past week, it was subtle and almost unnoticeable, but now that the world was going to hell. I could tell, I wasn't the girl I used to be. I was something else, something completely different then everyone around me. Something non-human.

I didn't know the answer to the question, but I had a creeping fear, and that's why I'd come here. I needed to test my theory. There was only one way to test it: a leap of faith. If I walked away unscathed, I would know the answer to my question. If I didn't–  
_  
Then it won't matter, will it?  
_  
I didn't want to die. This wasn't about killing myself, I simply needed to know. I took a shaky breath, and then with quick, sure movements, I swung a leg over the barrier. My yellow converse's perched precariously on the small eight-inch ledge as I brought my right leg over. I sat on the concrete for a moment, and peered down.

It was going to be a long fall.

I inched along the barrier, away from the dead woman's splatter zone. Once away from the woman i had pushed I took a shaky breathe. My left foot hung lightly in the air, swinging in the air.

"Here we go."

_One. Two. Three. Four. Five._


	2. Chapter one: Year one

One year had passed. The year was now 2018 and it had been a year like no other that the 20th century had seen. I hadn't seen another human in the past eight months; they avoided me like a plague. But they had every reason to stay out of my way. One thing I had learned about people of the new world is that they're like rats, though they hide very well if you do manage to see one scurrying about. It was the most importance to remember they happened to travel in packs.

The season was shifting into the end of October; the leaves that colored the trees in blood and rusty flames littered the streets. The sun was just barely creeping over the horizon in the hours of dawn, elongated shadows of the hollowed city skyline spread across the road. Causing my eye s to shift through the darkness, looking for a sign of life.

My gaze swept the yards to either side of the street as I walked. They were overgrown cages, barred by chain-link fences entangled in weeds and dead grass. Very little was green anymore. Most of the houses sat open, their windows long ago broken out during the time of the looting, and old remnants of people's lives littered the streets.

After a year of rains almost everything was unrecognizable, old clothes of people's lives moldy and gray, old electronics and broken heirlooms scattered across the road. With the absence of people Mother Nature had taken back the cites that had survived the rains. Though the hollowed buildings still stood strong after a year but the roads and sidewalks had already begun to show wear and disintegration from the lack of attendance.

With the constant change of weather all but the sturdiest of species were beginning to suffer from lack of food. Though this city had been in the median between high plains and mountains it now only sat 15 miles from the ocean. I could vaguely remember in the summers that it would reach up to 110 degrees Fahrenheit in July. But this year it had only hit 69 degrees. I try not to think about the upcoming year, or the year after that. I only hoped that the climate would level out and the food sources would come back.

I shook my head and tried not to think about it, I didn't have time now to think about things like this.

The rawhide I had wrapped around my feet kept my footsteps quiet and difficult to detect in the rural suburban landscape. They weren't waterproof by any means, but today was a dry day. The rains came less often now, and the air had a frosty chill to it. I had heard someone once say a long time ago that we were starting another ice age, and as fall wore on and winter drew nearer, I was inclined to agree. Two bleach bottles swung from my belt, I had wrapped them in old tee-shirt material to keep them silent as I walked. The only sound that they made was a slight scraping against my hips with each step that I took. Keeping silent was the ultimate key for survival.

Though it wasn't humans that I was worried about, from time to time a rat would crawl out of their hole and try to stir up trouble. No, the real trouble came from the feral dogs. Almost all of the pets had died within the first few weeks of the floods; they starved or died from exposure. Tied up in yards or left in homes to rot away while the world did the same. But the ones who had survived had formed packs. I remember the first night during the first winter when it dipped just below zero, how quite the city had become after that, that silence had been somewhat horrifying. But looking back at it now; I wished they had all died during that cold winter. The feral dog packs hadn't become a problem until about seven months later, when it had warmed up. By then they had began to breed and scavenging for food that lay around the city had become not enough for the growing packs. Now they hunted live prey. Large portions of the surviving population had fallen to the packs. Leaving only the rats and I to live in the city, though I had to give them credit they could bring down a kill.

Barely any small packs lived in the city, their territories taken over by larger and more feral packs. The largest of these packs was the Tyner's pack, the leader Tyner a large Husky. I had named him because he reminded me of this soldier that my father had helped with hand to hand combat. The last time I counted Tyner's pack counted just over 32. There was no telling how many puppies they had to feed now, last time I saw the pack I had saw at least 4 females pregnant -I make it a point to shoot females on the spot- They were going to overrun the city within the next two years.

A dog barked somewhere off in the distance, and I paused to listen. It echoed through the empty neighborhood, a muted burst of sound, violating the still air. It was a few blocks away, but I would have to be cautious on my way back to the base. The cold weather would keep the dogs inactive for another hour or two, but they would be out in full force by mid-morning. It did not leave a lot of time for me to complete my rounds unless the wind picked up.

With that in mind I swung my 5.56mm caliber M16 assault rifle over my shoulder gingerly and made my way down the embankment to the of the few sources of fresh water left around the city,a risk I was willing to take. The odd orange color set most other humans away from this source of water, willing to risk their own lives to go to the river by the packs. But I was set with what I could find, I had drunken worse before. I dipped the almost empty bottles into the water and made my way down to the traps I had set. Pulling on the tether I could tell by their weight that I had caught something. I scanned the shoreline and the hills around me; it was possible to be ambushed at any moment. I worked quickly as if hunted. It was never safe to assume that you might be alone in the city. There were no civil laws in this new world; it was survival of the fittest.

The jugs were full, two gallons would last me a day, I tried not to use my emergency supplies in case I had to be holed up for a few days in the base. Though the new weight would slow me down I took the risk it was better than using up my supplies. The trap finally reached the shoreline; a catfish flopped in the cage trying to escape. While a dog fish's head was stuck in-between the mesh trying to get to the catfish. A two small bass flopped limply as they gasped for oxygen. The back of my hand scraped against the exposed ends of the cut mesh, but I paid the small wounds little mind. Blood the color of ink beaded in long rows along my skin, and I grimaced as I yanked the dogfish out of the basket, and dumped the still-flopping bass onto the rock at my knees. With a nervous glance towards the sky, I grabbed the bass nearest to the edge of the water as it frantically tried to land itself back into the cool river, and with a heavy swing, I cracked its head upon the rock. I repeated the process until they were all dead.

I completed my task in moments, and in a move I had done hundreds of times, I hooked my fingers into one of the little fish's gills, and ripped the head clean of its body. With little time to waste, I shoved my arm into the wire basket and hooked the head onto a bent nail at the back, and with a flick of my arm, I tossed the trap back into the river. It would find its own way downstream. I washed my hands quickly of the smell of fish and the small specks of blood from my arm, no need to attract anything unwanted.

With quick and jerky movements I shoved the fish into my pack, a canvas bag with a plastic container glued into it that hung at the base of my back -I had created it specifically for my traps- and made my way back up the hill. A chorus of howls made me stop to glance toward that direction, damn it I had taken to long down at the river. The pack had become active.

I flipped the M16 rifle over my shoulder and into my hands, my feet quickening against the pace set by my heart. The tell tale signs of dogs echoed behind me, farther away but soon they would be catching up. I was four blocks from the base. It was a long run, even without the extra weight of the bucket on my back and the two gallons of water at my hips. I was an easy target if the dogs were to spot me. There was an alternative to going on foot, but I preferred not to resort to that.

Over the past year, I had rigged most of the cars in a five-mile radius of the base, so that any time I could hop into one if need be, and make a quick escape. They were all fueled, all open, and they had all been hot-wired to start in an emergency. The problem was that the vehicles made a lot of noise. Start one of them up, and I was guaranteed a mob all the way to the gate of the base.

There was a plan C, I loathed that plan. But it seemed that it was the only easy way to get back to base without being killed. I set my shoulders in a ridged line as I silently and quickly made my way down the center of the street. My gaze swept left to right for signs of movement, the barks were closer now and my gaze glued to that direction as I jogged to a manhole cover on the corner of Bronc's and Whitely. The intersection was one of the most dangerous places because of its openness on all sides. If one of the pack's members was to cross by I'd be screwed.

I worked with tense and hurried movements, checking behind me as I set my pack and gun down within easy reach, unclasping the two jugs from my waist had taken me seconds that I couldn't afford to lose. But I needed to focus on the task ahead, now came the hard part.

I braced my feet on both sides of the cover, latching my fingers in the port handles and lifted with all my strength. The 250 lb cast iron cover strained but barley moved an inch. Lifting the weigh was not a easy task even if I had been eating properly. Lately I had been rationing so not to use my emergency supplies, which left me to the traps, but as of late the river was becoming shallow so I wasn't getting a lot of food. Even though I hunted often and made rounds I still lost a lot of body mass, this manhole cover didn't want to move.

_C'mon. C'mon!_

I growled in frustration, pulling with all I had. The cover only lifted a fraction before clattering back into place. I stood of the hole, still straddling it and stared at my supplies. Looks like it's ditching one or the other.

"Damn!" looks like I would have to give up the water.

"Move, now!" the voice startled me, my face popped up to attention. Body tense in with an instantaneous reaction. Before I could register the words a man barreled into me, nearly knocking me over. I would have if he hadn't grabbed my arm and held me fast as he shoved me away as fast as he had come away from the manhole.

Another man followed behind quick on his feet as he caught me so I wouldn't fall. I watched the bigger man grab two hooks from his back and lift up the cover, with a great tug the cover was off. I eyed my gun and supplies that were by his feet. But the other guy pointed to something behind us.

"Dogs."

"Shit!" I spat out in alarm.

"In" the other one hissed as the smaller man was already jumping in, with a sweep of my feet I kicked the supplies into the manhole, grabbing my gun and dived under the man's broad stance. I landed on my feet, swinging the rifle over to where the younger man was at. Whatever danger these men held it was nothing compared to what was above. The bigger man slid in between me and the younger stranger and dragged the cover over the hole. Leaving us in the dark, I stared up at the ceiling in stunned silence.

He was a large man, I noted as I watched him; around six feet or so but it was hard to tell because of the floor. But he was built like an athlete wearing worn blue jeans, with work boots that were meant for industrial jobs and a dark blue knit sweater over a dirty white t-shirt. I would not have known the latter if not for the fact that the sweater, like his jeans, was tattered, and a size or two too large for his frame. It hung off one shoulder haphazardly, and it was obvious he had thrown it on last minute in an attempt to stave off the cold early morning air. His hair was a disheveled mass of chocolate waves, as if he had just rolled out of bed, and his face held evidence that he had not seen a razor in a week - none of which was surprising. It was easier not to bother with personal appearance when it was rare to see another Human being these days. There was no one to impress.

The other one was tall to, but a few inches shorter than the latter. I glanced between both of them warily, the younger one looked a few years younger than me, black hair unkept like he had woken up also. His clothes were layered as if he had been wearing them for a while, a old turtle neck under a torn black t-shirt. His red hoodie vest not much protection against the wind, the young stranger one worn black jean and sneakers. At least he was smart to wear black; it was a great camouflage color for hiding in the shadows.

the taller one dropped down off the last step of the old sewer ladder, and turned in my direction just in time to catch my stare. I lifted my rifle's aim a fraction of an inch to show that I was still paying attention. The scope marked a clear cross at his heart in my view.

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"Theo bowman" The man raised his hands to his shoulders, the other did the same. Turning their palms to show that they held no weapons. My gaze fell to his belt for a moment, and I noted that he had only a hunting knife tucked into his waistband. It was unlikely he could get to me before I could sink a round into heart, but in hand-to-hand combat, he had the advantage.

"What about you, yea hands away from the pockets." I nudged my gun over to the younger one as a warning.

"The name is Silas" he kept silent, before moving his head phones away from his ears and onto his neck. His hands moved back to their original position as if unaware that I could put a round into his heart within seconds. I turned on the flashlight that was on my gun, blinding them and giving me an advantage.

"What are you doing in my sector?" I hissed, keeping my finger lightly on the trigger

"Your sector?" I caught a look of interest from the latter "wait you-" another pause, as if he was thinking something over. "Wait your not Lia Raventhorn are you?"

"Yea what of it?" I hissed quietly "and it's not Raventhorn its Ravntorn and you didn't answer my question what are you doing in my sector?"

The one behind glanced between us, yawning. Over head the sound of the pack surrounding the hole was muffled. "We were not aware that you owned this part of the city, I thought this was a free country."

"We'll its not, ask your little rat friends about what happens to people who wander into my sector. I'm sure they have a load of stories to tell." I readjusted my gun weight and paused.

"Yup, a lot of them" Silas answered from around Theo and paused in after thought "Did you really use a child as bait?" I waited, not expected to give a answer.

"No one leaves children to be scavenged." I stated. It was not a clear answer, but it was enough. Let them think I was a monster; they was better off that way, and it was true. I had long ago ceased to be Human by anyone's standards.

"Fair enough." He spoke with a small nod of his head, and held up my water jugs. I stared at his hand for a moment, unsure of what to do. A few tense seconds passed, and then I lowered my rifle. I kept my finger on the trigger and grabbed the jugs of water and clasped them onto my belt. The canvas bag was once again on my back.

I watched the two warily, I could take them if needed to before they could cause damage but then I would have to drag the bodies back to base. I sneered bitterly "what no condemnation?"

Theo laughed; showing his straight white teeth, Silas shrugged. "Who are we to judge you, we're already in hell."

"Your very odd." I stated awkwardly. "So what do you want?"

"It doesn't take a genius to know the safest place is behind the walls of that base, so how about we come with you?" the smile still evident on his face, Silas nodded.

_Oh hell no...these guys are joking right?_


	3. Chapter two: The deal

I stared at the two as if I had just been slapped; these two think that I'm going to just let the waltz home with me? I lifted the rifle back up and glared at them; they had another thing coming.

"I don't think so, listen thanks for opening the manhole cover. But just because you saved my skin doesn't mean I owe you." I started backing away from the two that is until I noticed that Silas held something important to me, the dog tags.

I straightened and aimed at the boy, still keeping a wary eye on Bowman. "Give those back, now."

Silas stared at me, feigning interest as he turned the necklaces around to reflect the light. "Now why would I want to do that, they are nice keepsakes."

"Well I could shoot you and then drag your body back for dog food, that's a nice keepsake too." I growled "Or maybe I could gut you and wear your face as a hat."

Silas gave a faint smirk before swinging the chains "Listen we know that you won't be able to hold back the rats for much longer, and no way in hell are we going to let those scum hold the artillery of the city in their hands. You need us, besides it's not like we can go up now."

"Not my problem" I swung for the chains, but the latter kept them out of my reach. I retreated back five steps with my rifle aimed low.

"If we can hold them back until winter is over it's a safe bet that almost all of them will be dead. In case you haven't noticed the major decrease in this city's population." Theo laughed his chest rumbling with content. "And Silas would be one ugly of a hat anyways."

A twitch of my lip was the only evidence that showed a laugh was brewing in the pit of my stomach. I clenched my fist lightly to contain it, it wasn't so much humor that made me want to laugh, it was the absurdity of the conversation. This man had no idea how close he was to becoming dog food. A year or so ago I would have flirted with a guy like him, but now all I could flirt with was death. And that was something I try to avoid. It had only taken a second to run through the scenario of how to kill both of them, gut them and bring them back to the base.

"Look" my attention was dragged back to the older of the two. "I get it. You don't know us, you don't like people. Fine with that, but are you going to be the one to open the cover?"

My evergreen gaze darted up to the cover. Shadows swarmed across the tiny holes, the familiar sound of sniffing echoed down. The dogs were still circling. They both knew I wasn't going to; I wasn't even able to lift it. Beside it would be pure suicide if we let those dogs into the already dark sewer.

I was tempted to just kill them now, but the thought of hours taking them both back to the base wasn't appealing. But neither was sharing a base with another human being, that is other than Major but he was different. And they were right, eventually the rats would try to take the base and I would need another set of eyes to watch my back. Besides I could always kill them later if they caused a problem.

"Fine" I glared, snatching my dog tags back and hooking them back around my neck. "You can come, but you pull your weight. You want to eat you help hunt, you want to drink you carry your own water, two gallons or what you can carry with out being slowed down. Every day, and you make rounds."

"Fair enough" They both smiled.

"You don't, well then you starve or I will kill you." Pivoting back around I started to make my way down the sewer way. "Keep up and follow the light or be left behind."

Thirty one. Thirty two. Thirty three. Right

I turned and we continued for another hour or so, shifting from other corners to curving tunnels. I turned off the light.

"End of the line." I turned to see the two still behind me, damn it I thought that I could lose them.

"Find my left hand - there is a ladder." I explained. I waited in silence as I felt Theo's hand slip from his grasp on my belt. His fingertips grazed up along my left side, and up over the back of my bare shoulder. Unable to withstand the feel of his fingertips on my skin, I pulled away. I swung around in irritation and grabbed his wrist, yanking it to the metal step of the ladder. The line his fingers had traveled burned across my skin, and I felt the sudden urge to scrub the path until it bled.

"Stay." I slipped up a few more feet and slid my hand through a small grate in the wall. Underneath the usual grim held an old key. I wormed my way onto the ladder and felt around until there was a small gap in the cover. I shoved the key into the hole and pushed the cover aside. Pulling myself up onto the ground I was half tempted to leave them down there. But thought better moved aside to let them through.

"Private fall in!" the call echoed around the campus in a stern voice, faraway you could hear low growling and a shout. A dog bounded from behind the training grounds, growling and snarling.

"Private, friendly troops stand down." The dog halted just short of the two boys, who quite frankly had their mouths to the ground, a cold wet nose nuzzled against my hand. I pushed it away lightly.

"You have a dog." Silas just watched me warily but his shoulders showed no signs of being at unease.

"Found a female from Tyner's pack who had just given birth. Killed the mother and took the pups." I shrugged it off "let them fight during feeding time, the most fit and trust worthy had won."

"Come on we have another mile to the main base" I lifted my pack and made my way down the well know path. Not looking back at the two, my curiosity sustained...for now.

"Welcome to Haven comrades, your new home."


	4. Chapter three: Definatly not my day

The base was a mile away from the sewer lines, elevated upon a sheer faced cliff on one side and sloping hills on the other three sides. A perfect place for a fortress to hunker down in during the end of the world. I stalked across the open fields that had once been training grounds for those few brave men that were called soldiers, the memories made a vile knot in the bottom of my stomach. I had once been one of those soldiers that had started her service but had fallen short. But being a has been soldier in training did have its advantages, I had experience in worse possible scenarios -though I don't think that hunting rats and taking in comrade was part of that training.-

We walked in silence for the most part of the trip; the only sounds that broke the silence around us was the heavy tread of one and the almost silent steps of two sets of light feet against the cracked pavement.

"So how long have you been here?" Theo cleared his throat of the dust that was stirring up "I mean how did a girl like you even obtained this fort?"

I glanced back with a ghost of a smile, but that faded back into the perpetual frown at the last female part of the statement. "I was stationed here; I was in training for the marine core."

We walked for another five minutes; I let the statement sink in. Let them know that I could kill them in their sleep if I wanted to, or maybe slice their jugular vein and let them bleed out. Either way it was a warning, to stay out of my way. The bases outline crept over the horizon, gray and ominous against the azure sky. I glanced back once more before setting my pace into a steady jog, whistling as I made my way past up to the perimeters gates. Walking up to one of the side doors of the wall I opened the security box and typed in the code. The door wretched open with a heavy sigh, I glanced back at the two before slipping inside before the seven inch thick door closed. The two boys slipped inside with little complaint as I slid the dead bolt home.

The silence was uncomfortable. I watched as a seagull flew by overhead, and squinted my eyes against the early-morning sunlight. I was trying my hardest to ignore them. We strode down the center of the old airstrip, gear in hand, and Privet raced ahead. A cold breeze blew across the pavement; whirling sand and dry grass across the gray runway, the Tibetan mastiff pounced around it in circles, barking excitedly at the disturbance.

I opened the door to a gray and dull building, switching the lights on as I entered. "Welcome home boys."

"Wow." Silas scratched his chin and looked around the dim lighted room.

"This is the mess hall." I strode toward the freezers, unlatching the bleach jugs from my waist and stacked them with the others in the freezer. I hated my water warm.

"So why here and not the bunk houses?" Theo wandered to the windows.

"Because I was getting tired of moving from the housing units to the freezers, so I just converted it to headquarters." A strain of irritation flitted into my voice.

The great room was the size of a large cafeteria, but I had brought in several couches and chairs from the housing units to fill the space. A large flat screen TV took up a corner of the room with a DVD player and shelves filled floor to ceiling with DVD's. Most had been collected from the local stores and residences surrounding the base. Several large cafeteria tables took up the second portion of the room, covered in gear for the most part, though one was clear for eating meals. A large porcelain claw-foot tub sat in another corner, hooked up to a homemade water heater, and beside it, several dozen laundry bags filled with clean sets of military fatigues. I walked away from the wide counter held a view of the industrial kitchen with its four walk-in freezers, and over-sized pantry. A bunk bed sat in the corner farthest from the door close to the bath tub.

I made my way to the bags of fatigues and tossed two sets of clothes onto the table, keeping a wary eye on the men across the room; slowly choosing through the piles of clothes. Why did I even bring them here? I had tried to think of the reasoning but it seemed to allude me. The main reason was that I couldn't have them down in the tunnels; they could let in the rats. But then again I could have just ditched them near the base, there were many sand pits that I knew of that surrounded the base. One of them could have "accidentally" fall in. But I didn't do anything, and now I had two men in my base, my turf. Private whined and watched warily at the two intruders.

The door flew open with a slam; a shadow filled the light drenched door frame. The two jumped away in surprise. I laughed bitterly, making a scene just like always but that was Major for you.

"Oh Lucy I'm ho-" the boy stopped short and stared at the two guests, quickly grabbing the 20. Gage rifle by the door, taking aim. "Are you okay Lia who the hell are these people?"

"Calm down Azire" I sighed with begrudging irritation and set down the pile of clothes "They're our new comrades."

He stared at me as if I had just grown another head, me the one person in the world who hated human contact was letting two strangers; men no less- into our fortress. It was unspeakable, almost impossible but here we were sitting in the middle of the mess hall with a gun pointed at Theo. I wasn't sure how Major would react, he did have tendencies but I trusted him enough not to shoot and ask questions later. I moved into the kitchen and set the satchel onto the counter, prying off the lid to find the well dead fish still in good condition.

I took out the dogfish and explained in a calm voice the situation. He walked over the freezer and set down his own water jugs in the cold room, before coming back out and making his way over to me, his finger idly resting against the trigger.

Major leaned close and glared at the two. "You sure they're not rats, they could be infiltrating."

I knew where he was going with this but it should have been clear that I had made the decision to let them into the base, something that was never done before. It showed that I was wary but I could trust them enough. Besides they hadn't shown any signs of hostility, they were polite; which was something that I had not seen since the early times- so this should have put his restless thoughts at ease, at least for now.

"Yes, I do but that doesn't mean I'm not keeping an eye on them." I handed Azire the meat cleaver and he tenderized the fish.

I set a frying pan on the stove for him and made my way to Theo and Silas, grabbing the sets of clothes that I had laid out before I was interrupted and shoving them into the arms of the two boys. "Here I think these are the right sizes for you guys, go change."

I stalked away and went over to cutting up the fish that Azire had hadn't began to cook. My hands moved efficiently as I felid the meat. Private sat beside me and gave a bark of expectancy.

I glanced down "Don't even try it, you know that you don't get fish just wait your turn." The Tibetan mastiff laid with its head on its paws in defeat.

I cleaned one fish after another in executed fashion, removing the parts that weren't edible and throwing them back into the bucket. I would use that for bait later. Something glittered across the corner of my eye. I jerked up to see Silas pulling on his new shirt, but that's not what had caught my attention. No my attention was held by the two long extremities that were behind him. Two long black tails.

"Shit!" I looked down at the burned ochre liquid that had begun to pool and slipped down my wrist. I grabbed the rifle that I had left on the counter and aimed at him. The wound on my hand would soon close up; it was a minor concern compared to what we had just stumbled across.

"You're a Demon!" I spat, finger on the trigger "You didn't tell me that!"

Theo moved in front of demon known as Silas with his hands up. I growled, Azire grabbed the cleaver that I had just cut my palm against. Demons, a scarce kind of people left in the world. A mutation caused from a strange virus that had been released during the war. There were three types of mutations not including myself that I had encountered during my first year of hell. Myself, though I had never met another one like me with the symptoms of this particular condition. Then there were the rats, who contained a similar strand of the virus like my own but they didn't have my advantages. And then you had the demons, some of the most dangerous and unpredictable of the freaks. It seemed some of the people that were left after the floods adapted to the virus, morphing into a stronger being's with powers I couldn't even comprehend. One of the signs that they were a Demon was the tails. Those bastards were barely around, but if you did encounter one; well they were one hell of an opponent to deal with.

How could I not have seen those before? Silas held up his hands in defeat, like I was going to believe in that old routine. "Yea, but you're also a rare freak of nature." He looked at the tails blankly and then back to us, a slow grin spreading across his face. "I can already smell by your blood that you are not a human, your healing to quickly a rare find between us freaks."

Azire picked up the shotgun from the table, eyes all but slits. I quickly assessed the situation, a demon on my compound. This was a serious threat, but on the other hand if the rats did want to attack we could use him. I lowered the gun little by little, was it worth the risk? Demons would have to double their calorie intake, which meant we would have to hunt and make rounds more often then we already did. Theo watched us, confusion showing on his face. He was right, I was just like him. I healed quickly, yet I aged slowly. I was a freak but then again I wasn't as dangerous as the boy in front of me. Who knew what power that kid had, he could strike me down right now without even lifting a finger. But he didn't, why?

Azire glanced at me, eyes roiling with rage and some other emotion that I couldn't place. Private growled from his corner, low to the ground and slinking toward the two. This situation was about to get bad.

"Private stand down." I shouted at the dog, who ceased his advancement but kept his stance. Wary and ready to pounce. Azire lowered his rifle a fraction but kept his finger on the trigger.

"Alright, you can stay." I glared and set down my rifle and made my way over to the stove, the fish was just starting to burn. "Make the wrong move and I will shoot you."

"Azire, take Silas and show him the ropes around here, make sure he pull his weight and he knows the drills." Azire was about to protest until I gave him an icy glare. I was not going to deal with anymore than I needed to today. The door slammed a few seconds later.

I turned off the heat and made my way over to Privates bowl. I stared down at the large gash in my hand as the bright red blood welled up and turned black with the exposure to the air. It dripped down my elbow into the bowl below. Private padded his way over to the bowl, and sat beside it patiently, waiting for me to give him the go-ahead.

I was so absorbed in watching the blood pool in the bottom of the bowl that I didn't even notice Theo move up behind me. He was silent as he walked, and I felt his breath on the back of my neck before I even realized he'd moved. Startled, I jumped to the right, holding my hand at chest level above the bowl to help the bleeding stop. However, Bowman's stillness caught my attention, and I turned my gaze to him warily. He was staring intently at my hand.

Well shit.


	5. Chapter four: a close encounter

I backed away slowly, a black inky trail spattered on the floor where the blood dripped as I moved back. The gun was too far away, too far for a leap of faith. And Private had followed Azire as security. I eyed Theo with each step in which he followed.

"Bowman..." I moved and cupped my hand, backing away until I was stuck up against the wall. His gaze flickered to mine for a brief moment before zeroing back onto my blood-soaked hand. The tension in the air was like a live wire -ready to detonate at any moment- Theo's hand shot out and grabbed my wrist, pulling my hand to his lips. A bile rose in my throat as I felt his lips graze against my open palm, tasting the blood.

"Bowman give me back my hand, please..." I didn't try to pull away, as not to provoke his fury. His attention too honed into the metallic stench of the blood. I had to think fast, bring attention away from the blood. Gain attention to his basic instincts, but that could be dangerous for me. Without hesitation I bit my lower lip; the taste of iron hinted in my mouth.

"Theo..." I whispered, my eyes met hazed iron eyes. Those eyes traveled down to my lip and stayed there. the latter stepped closer until I could feel the heat radiating from his fatigues through my thin cotton tank top; I carefully slipped my hand out of his and wiped it against the bottom of my tank top, not needing to look at the wound to know that the blood had already stopped the skin and muscle already knitting back together.

His warm breath scorched across my face, and I kept my eyes on his. His pupils had dilated to an enormous size, blacking out all but a thin sliver of his iris; his breathing labored.

"Th-" my protests were quieted as lips brushed against mine; I steeled myself mentally for whatever would happen next. My hands slowly crept up his neck and twined into his hair, maintaining control of the distance of his teeth. I pushed myself up onto my tiptoes as I pulled his mouth to mine.. My heart was racing, fluttering like a bird trapped in my chest, and I felt his tongue dart against my lower lip, tasting the blood. In a split second, he took my lower lip into his mouth, tasting it. A hand slipped to the small of my back, the other twining into my hair as if he was a drowning man holding onto the only thing that would save him. I flushed against him, waiting for his track of mind to turn so that he wasn't focused on the blood. If he didn't I wouldn't stand a chance. Hands wrapped around my waist and lifted me up as if I weighed nothing. His muscles once tense relaxed as I wrapped my legs around him so I wouldn't fall. His lips moved along my jaw and nibbled my ear, away from the blood and low growl emanating form his throat. I had him.

I shoved his chest away, my feet back on the ground. But he didn't loosen; I pounded against Theo's chest with reverberating thumps. "Let go!"

I wiggled out of his grasp while he hesitated, letting out expletives as I glared at him. He looked visibly shaken over what just happened. I clenched my fist and swung, hooking it into his lower jaw. He stumbled back, rubbing his jaw with shock written all over his face. "What the hell was that?"

"Are you fucking insane!" I growled putting as much distance between us as possible. "Why didn't you tell me you're a rat?"

"But I'm no-"

"Yes you are, you're infected!" I stormed into the kitchen and shoved a slice of the dog fish onto a plate and set it onto the table with more force than necessary "eat."

"I'm not hungry." He glanced at me, eyes widened like a child who had just gotten caught in the cookie jar. "Besides, whatever just happened is more important than-"

"Eat. The. Damn. Fish." I shoved a fork at him, and growled "Or else I will shove it down your throat." It wasn't an empty threat either.

He poked the food, and started to eat. "Lia...look I'm sorry."

"Don't you think that it was a little odd when one of those damn rats was trying to take a bite out of you?" I grabbed the knife and rubbed it down, making sure it was cleaned effectively.

"What do you mean?" a choking cough erupted from my left. "They're cannibals?"

I sighed, drawing my hand down my face. He honestly had no Idea did he? It was as if he had popped out of thin air, how could he had not known he was infected? "It's alright, but now you're going to have to double your calorie intake just like Silas."

There was awkward silence for a moment, as if he was accepting he was also a freak. "So what is it?"

"I don't know – a virus. I'm no scientist. It attacks and spreads like the god-damned flu; I've never seen anything move as fast as this does." I turned away from the counter then, leaning my hip against the cool hard surface, and picked at the piece of fish on the end of my fork. I had little taste for it.

"It's blood-born. It speeds up the body's metabolism. You heal faster, you age slower, and if you don't take in enough calories for what you expend, you'll start to crave blood and flesh–especially Human." I hopped up onto the counter-top, sitting beside the stove, and bit off a piece of the fish, chewing it methodically. I tried not to think about the taste.

"You're going to have to double your calorie intake." I stated and nodded towards the stove. "The cockroaches are starved, and probably long past repair. They're eating maybe a fraction of the amount of calories they need to survive. Their cravings are bordering on psychosis now. They'll attack anything, even each other. That's why their population has sunk so low. I can only hope they finish themselves off. Keep yours managed, and you'll be all right, and I won't have to shoot you." I chewed off the last bit of fish on my fork as I watched him approach the counter. He picked up a second piece with his fingers, and stared at it a moment.

"And now I've given it to you." he stated quietly. I shook my head and crossed my ankles.

"No. I can't get the strain you have, but, with any luck, you may catch mine." I said as I leaned over and speared another piece of fish. His head came up at that, and he turned his attention to me.

"You have a different strain?" he asked. I nodded.

"Unfortunately, this is my fault." I said quietly. He stared at me for a moment.

"What do you mean?"

"I got sick before the floods, and I... was injured. I was unconscious for quite awhile, and by the time I woke up, it had already spread to several dozen people. I think, somehow, by exposing my blood to the air, the virus became airborne. It must have been short lived, but it took hold, and it mutated into what you have." I explained.

"I believe the strain I carry is less virulent–it seems harder to spread, but it is hardier. I haven't been able to be infected with the second strain, and believe me; I've been exposed numerous times." I shook my head, clearing the memories from my mind. "It's possible, now that you have been exposed to my blood, that the original strain may replace yours. Probably, the more you are exposed to mine, the better your chances are." I said.

"What makes your strain different?" he asked, as he swallowed a bite of fish. I held up the palm of my hand for him to inspect.

"I heal just about as fast as you do-" I said wiggling my fingers. A long scar ran down the palm of my hand, it was nearly healed, but the wound was still raised and pink. "But," I bit the last bite of fish from my fork, and turning it, I placed my injured hand flat on the counter, and quickly stabbed straight through the back of my hand. Blood welled up around the tines of the fork as I pulled it out and tossed it aside. "I don't feel pain. The first strain causes nerve damage. I also require less calories than you do. My body metabolizes a little more efficiently, so I don't burn out as quickly. I crave blood as you do, but it's like craving your favorite brand of cereal. I can do without it if I choose to." I lifted my hand, wiggling my fingers in front of Broderick's face. His eyes were once again intent on the dripping blood.

"Where as, you can't." I studied his expression. He was entranced. I held out my hand to him, and watched as his eyes dilated further. I paused, considering the possibility that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have someone else like me around. It had been a long a year – and I was tired of carrying this burden alone. I made a decision.

"Go ahead. The more exposure you get, the better off you'll be." I commented as he took my hand and pulled it to his lips. It felt odd giving someone permission to drink my blood, and I grimaced at the feel of his tongue on the back of my hand. "Just don't chew on me while I'm asleep. I expect you to eat when you need to so this doesn't happen again." I watched him as he gulped down the blood as it flowed from my hand, but it wasn't long before the wound healed enough for the blood to stop, and hesitantly, he let go of my hand, though he continued to stare at me.

"It's all right." I assured him. "Eat some more fish." I pushed myself down off the counter-top, and walked to the second of the large freezers, wrenching the door open with a hard tug of the handle. The air in the freezer was painfully cold, like being outside on a snowy day, and I could see my breath as I exhaled; brief bursts of white. I paused and glanced over my shoulder at Bowman. There was a small smear of blood at the corner of his lips, and I knew he was warring with himself over what he'd just done. I could see the strain in his face as he stared down at the burned fish in his hand. This wasn't going to be easy for him.

The door slammed open, Private launched to his bowl and chowed down. "Listen you son of a bitch, don't walk away when I'm talking to you!"

Silas sauntered up to the counter and took his dinner, setting it on the table before turning to Azire. A smile crept up on his face. "Listen short stuff, all your yelling isn't going to get my attention. Now I suggest you eat the food that Lia has worked so hard to cook for you."

One golden eye swept over Bowman and I. "In the kitchen just like a woman should be."

I rolled my eyes and gave a bitter laugh; the little ball of rage inside me contained a locked away in some cage in the back of my mind. "All of you better eat your damn food before it gets cold."

Silas smirked and bit into the fish, Azire was fuming as he stabbed the small piece of bass that was left. Mumbling some not so nice words under his breath. Silas said something to him that sent him back into the argument.

I watched them for a moment; they reminded me of all the times that I had spent in the earlier days, eating with other soldiers. Cracking jokes and starting disputes. But that was all over now; instead I would be sharing my home with two new recruits. They seemed oblivious to what we were about to do tomorrow morning, something that even I wasn't too thrilled to be doing either.


	6. Chapter five: Shopping trip

I jerked awake, it was still dark out. I glanced at the clock to find it 5:00am and that meant no one would be awake at this hour. My morning routine usually started with me waking up in the same way that I had just did, nightmare filled nights were a usual for me now a days. Then after I would grab a quick wash-up, a check of how much supplies we had and the starting of breakfast before going out onto my patrol routes. I silently padded my way through the mess hall over to the tub, pulling out a set of clean fatigues and a clean wash rag as I went along and turned on the water, setting it to my liking. Today our routine was going to be shattered though, so maybe I would skip the stock check.

"Good morning." I glanced back to see Silas perched up on one of the tables, looking over a M-4 Carbine, a nice light weight gun.

"Morning." I went back to my business, closing the curtain around the tub and taking off my dirty fatigues. Turning off the water so that it was only ankle deep and stepped in, I couldn't waste the hot water.

I watched Silas's shadow as I washed off of yesterdays grim and what flecks of dried blood. The silence wasn't all too uncomfortable; I have had mornings like this when Azire had woken up before me. We just didn't talk. Silas's quite hum brought me back from my ponderings; as I dragged myself out of now cold water and pulled a towel around me I glanced over at clean fatigues, damn I forgot my second tank top. Slipping on all of my other fatigues I pulled the curtain away a little to see him still perched on the table, one eye observing me.

Quickly I pulled over another tank top and a shirt over my cami, leaving it half unbuttoned.

"So that's why they call you the raven hmm?" My muscles tensed, hands clenched around the hem of my shirt. Trying not to let it get to me, trying not to remember what _he_ did to me so long ago.

"Yea..."

I made my way quietly to the kitchen, taking out a pan and what was left of the fish from last night. Slicing it into quarters and breading it before tossing the meat into the frying pan. There was no denying what he had seen the cami only covered half of it, I shouldn't have been embarrassed it was just stupid, but I was. Even after the months that had passed, I couldn't shake the feeling. The fairly large shape of a raven made up of intricate scars stood out in depressed relief against the skin of my back, stained black with ink poured over the wound long ago. The flesh had been cut from my back deep enough that even now, it hadn't completely healed. It was the only time in the past year that I'd felt pain, real, naked, burning pain.

A comfort to tell me that I was still somewhat human.

"So what's the story?"

"Let it go okay?" I turned on him; a glare as I assessed him, looked like any punk mall rat that I would have avoided talking to a few years ago. "You tell me how you got here, what did you do? Tell me about your life I might tell you mine."

He mulled it over for a while, I glanced at the others. Still snoring over in the corner but that wasn't really surprising. A lot of stuff happened last night.

"Tell me more about...this strand you were talking about earlier?" I brought my attention back to cooking and flipped the fish, leaning against the counter so he had been eavesdropping earlier. "You telling us that it was from nuclear fallout was a lie wasn't it?"

I stared out by the window, before turning off the stove. It was a lie. A white, filthy lie. They deserved to know, I wish I would have but when I finally did it was too late. "Yea..."

He waited for me to explain. "The strand, well from what I'm there are three different types from my assumption, mine which is like Theo's strand but unlike the second strand I can't feel pain."

I grabbed the knife I used on the fish and sliced it across my finger, turning it to show him, the skin almost healed. But he already knew that, he was a demmy. "That and I don't need as many calories in my intake as you guys do, then you have Theo's strand, feels pain, calorie intake basically a knock off of mine."

"Then there's mine" The sarcastic tone made my lip twitch, huh so emo boy is catching on.

"Yup, you were probably strong immunity wise than I so you adapted to it, obtained extra strength or powers with the tails as a side effect."

I walked into the freezer and pulled out a 10 gallon bucket from the bottom shelf and moved over to Privates bowl, quickly pulling out the gory contents into the bowl. I was semi glad that Silas didn't ask what exactly I was feeding Private.

"Private breakfast." The dog swooped in as I stood back, scarfing the chunks of meat and small strings of sinew down gladly, his muzzle darkening with blood. Silently I moved from the freezer back to the kitchen and prepared breakfast, not a daunting task but enough that I would keep my mind from wandering to unwanted memories. "Wake them up will you."

Quickly when Silas turned his back on me I made my way to the back hall that held our canned foods. My back hit the door as my head into my hands; the bottom of my palms against my eyes. The memories flashing over my vision like an old slideshow. The bastard, the sick son of a bitch. _He_ was the reason I was like this now, the reason while I couldn't leave the city just yet.

_He_ was the reason for everything, and I was going to be the one to put his sorry ass into a shallow grave.

I grabbed a can of peaches, wiping all of the emotion that I had let slip back into a stony facade and padded back into the kitchen, opening the can as I went. It seemed that Azire were already were on bad terms for the start of the morning, maybe I should have woken him up. I put the peaches in a bowl that was in the sink and set them on the table, not bothering to look at the others.

"So what's today's schedule captain?" Theo lounged against the pantry with a fake salute in place; I gave him a careless glance and made my way over to weapons table, picking up my M-16.

"We're going shopping boys." They stared at me for a moment, sullen. "We're going to the mall."

"Whoopie do da day I get some new converse." Azire smirked around his fork "Does that mean your gonna get that bikini I've been trying to get you into?"

I laughed, actually laughed for the first time in a long time. My muscles relaxing slightly "Not a chance, you know that I'm more of the one piece type of girl."

"So why are we going to the mall?" Theo yawned, stretching his taunt arms over his head. "Wouldn't it be more dangerous to be doing that?"

"We'll go to the mall because the stores there are more sheltered than the stand-alone ones on the street. The equipment has fared better. We need to pick up some replacement gear." I rolled my eyes, and pulled a satchel onto my back, packs only with rounds, flairs and two flashlights. With the M-16 in hand I watched as the others chose their weapons, Azire picked up his usual. A Glock and a semi-automatic while Silas picked up a shotgun. Theo picked up 45. Caliber rifle along with his army knife and an axe, the one I used for fire wood.

"We're taking soldier with us; he's great at hunting down any rats" Azire's usual smirk brought out the knowing look in his eyes as he glanced at Theo. "mmm rats for supper tonight."

I glared at them, the distinct sound of pitter pats hit across the roof before the steady drum of a drenching storm landed on the rooftops. I grabbed a camo jacket from beside the door and pushed my way out of the room, letting the door slam behind me as I held the jacket over my head like an umbrella. I dashed for the Humvee parked beside a hollowed out building, it was big enough to carry supplies and keep them dry. It was unlocked when I reached it; quickly I climbed in to get out of the rain, setting my jacket on the dashboard and jamming the keys into the engine, the vehicle started up with no hesitation. I peeled out of the parking lot and headed toward the mess hall.

I pulled up to the hall, honking twice and waited, sure enough the door opened to the three rushing into the truck, Azire tossing a bag of weapons onto the floor by his feet. I'm guessing he was still suspicious of Silas, I shrugged it off and slid out of the driver's seat, pulling open the trunk of the SUV hummer. Private came flying out of the hall and waited patiently by my side.

"Fall in"

Five minutes later we were pulling out of the base after Azire had hastily locked the base back up; Setting the automatic detonator around the top of the brick wall. I watched from the passenger seat as the city went by, hollowed out homes lay in ruin. The rain made it even more foreboding, turning the already haunting buildings into formless shapes through the drenching rain. Azire drove the humvee to the east side of the mall, a old iron gate blocked off anyone other than me. I had blown off all the locks a long time ago and replaced them all with my own on every exit and escape route in the whole mall. I crept out and pulled an unmarked brass key and jammed it into the lock, listening intently for footsteps or the sounds of dogs, with a heave I pulled open the gate and opened the only entrance to the mall. Once parked we sat, scanning the mall for any signs of life.

The jeep crept slowly inside, the cracking of tiles under the weight made my hairs stand on edge. My finger on the trigger as I surveyed behind the jeep as it convoyed past. Once clear of the entrance I yanked the gate down, not bothering with the lock. It wouldn't be needed for Tyner's pack and no rat would be stupid enough to ambush us. I had pulled the Child bait trick one to many times.

I walked along the jeep, an M-9 hand gun in a hip halter, an M-4 Carbine and my M-16 hung off my shoulders. Not to mention the two standard combat knifes that were snug against my waist in their holders. "Keep watch, everything for a mile around heard this beast. The rain may or may not keep the packs at bay, just be careful."

Letting Private out from the back set my mind into military mode, my blood pumping adrenaline through my veins as I scouted the area. Signing to Azire for coast clear, slowly they exited the vehicle and pulled their weapons with them. The Mastiff walked beside me as we fanned out, most of the stores would contain nothing of value, looted out during the chaos. But they were full of rodents and birds, something that we could use. I was getting sick of fish. "Private terminate all hostiles."

With a bark the dog stalked ahead of us, leaving us in silence.

"Terminate hostiles?" Theo gave me a somewhat amused look.

"He'll kill anything living around here and bring it back to the jeep, rodents, pigeons and a squirrel from time to time." I glanced back with a smirk; Theo jogged up to my side and swung the axe onto his shoulder.

We walked in silence, it was eerie. I hated coming here; it was dark and creepy not to mention that with the mannequins I always felt that I was being watched. "Go to the back if you want supplies, most of the boxes are labeled. Don't get what you can't carry on your own and if you hear two honks of the horn get your ass back to the jeep. If i don't come back in a reasonable amount of time then get the hell out of here, the same goes for you."

We headed into out of the sunshine of the sky light into the blackening shadows, the floors were littered with leaves, dust and broken tiles. There was a set of human bones against the old wishing well, which had long been dried up though thousands of pennies and coins laid at the bottom. I spotted a shoe store and made a B-line for it.

I checked the boxes one by one, and when I found three that still seemed intact, and hadn't been infested with mice nests, I stacked the boxes up and carried them over to the cash register. I piled them up on top of the counter before returning to the women's aisles. For the most part, the women's shoes were worthless, but I managed to find a pair of running shoes that were decent, and as I walked past, I grabbed a pair of size six ballet slippers, the kind with soft leather soles. They would probably laugh, but they wouldn't be as bulky as the hide I had been using for my morning trap checks. I grabbed one last set of size 8 men's work boots before returning to the front of the store and set those too on the counter.

Hopping over the counter I grabbed a large bag and started shoving the shoes in -boxes and all- and for good measure I snagged half a dozen shoe laces, never know when you could need them for traps or something. I spotted an old cart by a pillar and a set of tables, it must have been used to cart around the tables in chairs but now I had a better idea for it. Dropping my supplies onto the cart I made my way along the corridors, glancing around at the stores for anything of interest. The faint sound of an off tune melody echoed from the west wing of the mall, wafting through the giant corridors. I paused to listen to the off tune melody.

"Theo" A small laugh flitted from my lips.

I thought about Bowman as I strolled into an old pet store. He was hard not to like. I had never thought about having a companion in my fight against threats other than Azire. I had assumed naturally, that I would struggle to survive, until one day, I was killed.

After the first of the infected had appeared a month post-flood, I had isolated myself from all other human beings. I had been afraid to infect more; but in the end it had not mattered. Once the virus was out, it had spread from host to host like the flu in a kindergarten classroom, and there'd been little I could do to stop it. Later, I'd isolated myself to survive. It was safer not to trust people. It was easier if you didn't expect anything from them.

That was until I met Major, he seemed to be one of the few that hadn't been infected by either of the virus strands. He wormed his way into a small part of my heart; he was like my big brother. Who had died in combat, he was always looking out for me.

However, as opposed to Theo as I had been at the start of the day, in such a short time, he had already grown on me. I shouldn't have liked him. I shouldn't have trusted him. Hell, I probably should've shot him on sight–but I hadn't–and I was glad. He wasn't half-bad to look at for one thing–but also, it was nice just to have someone to talk to other than Azire, who had been away on way to many patrols for my liking. In time, perhaps I wouldn't feel the need to watch my back quite as closely with him around. It would be nice to be able to relax. It felt like we had created a small family, though I didn't know their stories yet I could feel a small glimmer of hope lift in my chest.

The front windows of the shop had long since been broken out, and it smelled of old rawhide, and rubber chew toys. I glanced at a bank of dog cages as I passed to the back of the store, cart in tow. Old wire cages held the bones and dried carcasses of puppies, rabbits, and cats, and the floor was littered with the droppings of rats that had come to feed on the rotting bodies. I grimaced at the thought and abandoned the cart partway through the small store. It was too wide to make it all the way to the back. I stepped over a fallen parrot cage as I made it to the back wall of the store. Several dozen old chew toys and dog bones hung from the wall. A few remained wrapped in hard plastic, and I pulled them down off the shelf, along with a large stainless steel dog bowl, and made my way back to the cart, tossing them onto the growing pile of supplies.

"Stupid mutt." I grumbled under my breath as I wheeled the cart back out of the store like an over-grown shopping cart. As I exited the store, a soft, tenor whistled from the other side of the mall to accompany Theo's tune.

"The dorks." A grin split my faces as I pushed the over sized cart down the hall.

Some day, I knew Silas would ask me what had happened to my back, and I was not sure I could tell him. Flashes–images of that day–replayed in my brain, and I squeezed my eyes shut to block them out. I did not want to remember.

Other than the loud off key singing the mall was silent, I stopped in front of a store which I knew carried just about everything imaginable. I had raided the store before; though most the shelves in front were empty the back was packed with boxes still in plastic from shipping. I detoured through women's apparel when the soft familiar clicking of Privates nails told me he was still hunting. Leaving him in peace I made my way to the back.

The room was nearly the size of the mess hall back home, and smelled heavily of mildew and old cardboard. I heard the scurry of rats in the darkness, and I left the cart just inside the doorway.

Boxes were piled from floor to ceiling at either end of the large room, and several already-open boxes sat askew in the middle of the path where I had unpacked them months before. I walked along the shelves, scanning the black and white drawings of the boxes contents until I found the one I was looking for. Carefully, I adjusted my rifle so its strap crossed my chest, and kept my arms free, and pulled a pocket knife from a small pocket on my belt harness. With quick, efficient movements, I unsealed the box, and rummaged around until I found the plastic-wrapped tarps I was in dire need of, and pulled six out of the box.

With them in hand I piled them on one edge of the cart and made my way out of the store, Theo coming out of the Depot stores down carrying one 5 gallon bucket of tools and a few bags.

"Cheater" A smile cracked across his face as he made his way to me, avoiding a pile of dead dog bones that were strewn across the floor.

"Not my fault that I'm super resourceful." I teased and mirrored his smile before setting the cart back into motion.

"Mind if I put my haul on?" I glanced at him with an arched eyebrow. "I'll even push it."

"Deal." I moved out of the way and walked along the cart, I glanced up at the sky lights, filtering light between debris and leaves that littered the window panes.

We made it back to the Truck before the others, small gray body's lay on the ground next to the basket by the tire. Private's hunting had gone well today, very very well. "Looks like we got dinner for tonight."

"Thank God I was getting sick of fish." The latter began loading our haul into the back of the truck as I counted today's game.

"One. two. three. four. five. six. Oh two pigeons. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven." I smiled as I dropped the last rat into the basket before closing the lid and putting the bounty into the back seat. The closed the trunk lid and we rounded up to the front of the truck. A few moments later Azire and Silas came rounding the corner with three overstuffed Toy's R Us bags and five smaller bags they were talking, well more like civil arguing but it was a lot less tense compared to this morning.

"Aw no bikini Lia?" Azire smirked and patted my head.

"Sorry seems like someone else got to it." I laughed, setting my M-4 carbine and my jacket into the passenger seat. "It was just a mad house with the sale going on."

I let Silas grab the passenger seat; I turned and cupped my hands around my mouth. "Private convoy!"

No response, I stepped away from the humvee and listened. He was in the last store hunting; maybe he just didn't hear me. "I'm going to get him guys, honk if he comes back I'd rather not wander around while he's sitting cozy." I hollered over my shoulder as I made my way back to the store, flipping my M-16 onto my back so that it wouldn't bounce as jogged.

I called one more time "Soldier fall in!" Before heading through the old metal detectors, the kind that would beep if you went through with a faulty scan. Within minutes I heard the telltale sound of nails clicking against the linoleum, I jogged half way past the children's display to meet him. Without warning the familiar sound of the horn blared into the empty store. I stopped dead in my tracks.

_Shit._

Slowly as I could manage I pulled my rifle into my hands and grasping it with both hands, I cautiously backed toward the entrance of the store. My eyes swept over every row, keeping my aim low to the ground.

I listened for any sound, any movement in the dark. The store was too deep to be sure of a ambush no matter which direction. I made it back to the store entrance and into the main hall keeping my back to the wall as I scurried along the hall toward the jeep. I turned my gaze from the door as I listened for signs of the pack, but it wasn't the pack that I saw in the shadows of the hallway.

A human form crouched low to the ground some feet away swayed back and forth irritably, rocking from foot to foot as if he couldn't sit still. I caught the glint in his eyes as he turned his head toward me, his body stilling.

_Fuck._

I aimed at the figure and backed away slowly, the figure kept still, but his movements seem to come back double fold, body twitching slightly as I too more steps away. I had one chance; if I ran I might not have time to get out safely.

The truck was across halfway across the mall; I lowered the rifle an inch, aiming for the knees. I didn't need him dead I just need him slower than I was. I took a deep breath and focused my mind ahead.

_One. Two. Three._


	7. Chapter six: Dog fight

The gunshot pierced the oppressing silence; I had made a direct hit. The man let out a shriek and writhed in pain for an agonizing moment, crawling up off of the floor and lunged tried to just after I danced away from his grasp.

A dog bark came from my left, and I heard the sound of paws and nails padding across the linoleum, I turn and ran. My footsteps clattered through the halls as I swung around the corner, the truck's horn bounced around in my eardrums; the base drum line that fell in time with the erratic beats of my heart. The guys hadn't heard the gun shot. The punctuated howling of the man was against my back as the pack descended on him. I could hear the growling, and the screaming though I tried to block out the sounds as I ran it still pushed into my mind; only focusing on the goal ahead. The truck was two halls and three turns down the mall I wasn't out of danger yet.

I glanced back to find two of the pack rounding the corner at break neck speed, I hadn't been lucky enough to get out unnoticed. Two dogs, a German shepherd taking the lead and what seemed to be a Dalmatian mutt in the back and they were close at my heels.

The impatient sound of the horn sounded from the Hummer, my head snapped up. They didn't know about the infiltration, I couldn't let them surround the truck.

Shut up Theo. Shut up!

I rounded the corner and swung my gun around butt first like a baseball bat into the shepherd's skull. A dull crack sounded and it fell to the ground. I struggled up and stumbled around the other corner, the damnation mutt so close I could almost feel its breath on my calves. I stopped and the mutt slid past me towards the truck. I turned on my heel while the shepherd was still down and flipped my rifle back around, shooting a round into the mutt as I ran past. The mix yelped but I knew that it hadn't been a fatal wound; it wouldn't be down for long.

I took a deep breath and screamed as loud as I would be a loud to.

"Go I ripped the flashlight off of my vest and threw it at the humvee; it bounced off of the hood and put myself in front of the truck. I only had a few rounds left; I brought up my rifle eyeing the scope as three big dogs bound out from the darkness. I shot the largest of the three first, knocking it almost a foot back as it dropped to the floor, I only had enough time to take a second shot at the German shepherd, the bullet exiting from the back of its neck with a sickening gurgle. I kicked the body aside and brought the butt of the rifle to swing at the third dog, but I was too late. I only grazed its flank as it sunk its massive jaws into my arm. I felt the power behind the blow, like a linebacker into my side, though I felt no pain. I grimaced at the sound of bone cracking as the dog crunched down into my bare arm.

The Dalmatian mutt that I had shot earlier stalked out of the darkness, teeth bared as his shadow crept toward us. I grabbed my gun and blew off a round into the mutt, crimson poured out of its chest as it lunged for my leg; its teeth clenching down into the artery but a moment or so later it slumped away and shuddered before lying still. I couldn't think about it now, there were probably more in the mall and I had to finish these off, Quickly I pulled the scruff of one closest to my face and bit into its neck, the taste of warm iron flowed into down my throat, almost gagging me. The loss of blood and adrenaline sent me gulping down the scorching slick blood as the dog tried to wretch away, I held tight and let the gush of the life force wash over my face, staining my skin. Its attempts at escape became less of a effort, the wrenching shifted to twitches until it was still altogether.

I let go of the neck and leaned back, with what strength I had left I pushed the still corpse off of me. The sight of my arm made me almost vomit, chunks of muscle and skin hung as blood gushed from the wound the white of bone shown between sinews of red twitching muscle it was barely recognizable. Hastily I shoved the splintered and cracked bone back into place, it I could only hold together long enough it would heal.

The craving hit hard, my world began to spin and fade grey the vertigo sent me crumpling to the ground. I was losing blood to fast; too much lost I was going to bleed to death.

The sound of more growls echoed through the fog, I closed my eyes and laid my head down with my hand clenching the mangled arm so the bones would set, the warmth of the crimson liquid soaked through my clothes and crusted onto my skin. Too many of the pack had come, they needed to leave. Gun shots echoed through the mall along with the yelps and cries of the fallen pack. The heady scent of blood made my head light; I opened my mouth slightly before closing it again.

"Lia!" with great effort I opened my eyes to see Azire and Theo standing over me. Theo looked frightened; numbly I put my hand against his cheek. Crimson tainted his skin. "Lia speak to us!"

They sounded so far away, like they were behind a door or in another room. "Duck tape, compartment it would be great if I had it before I bled to death."

Theo disappeared and Silas took his place, hands clenched around the shot gun. "Oh man, is she going to be alright?"

I gave a drowsy smile my throat was becoming thick from all the blood. "Yea, keep watch I saw a rat too."

Theo came back and tossed Azire the duck tape; He tried not to look at the chunks of flesh that hung off the bone. Azire quickly put them back into place and taped up the wound before moving onto my leg. I closed my eyes and relaxed, knowing that I had them to watch my back. Arms picked me up and moved me toward the truck and laid me in the back seat.

Azire glanced around and started dragging one of the dog corpses along with the dog. "Private retrieve."

"What are you doing?" Theo still seemed to be in shock, he leaned against the hummer and ran his hand through his hair in an irritated manner. "Also the rats have smelled the blood by now, so they'll be coming out of the works soon enough."

"Where do you think Private gets his food?" Azire smirked and threw the one more into the back. I tried to sit up, but curled into a ball when a wall of nausea hit.

"I can understand why you think this is hell." Silas nodded vaguely and watched Private drag another dog corpse from the shadows. "That is wrong on so many levels, if anything you should be rewarded for teaching your dog such a perverse trick."

I gave a quite bitter laugh and stretched back out on the back seat, listening to them move the bodies onto the growing bodies in the back, soon after they hopped in. Theo carefully sat me up against him so that I wouldn't be hit with vertigo.

I got comfortable and watched as Silas opened the gate and quickly climbed back into the passenger seat after the truck was pulled away from the entrance and it was closed with the lock on it. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed another shadow moving towards the entrance. "There's a rat, floor it Azire."

He didn't need to be told twice; the woman dodged out of the way and followed the truck for a few feet before returning to the gate. Inspecting the lock though I knew she wouldn't be able to break it without a blow torch.

I glanced wearily up at Theo; his face was rigid as he sneered at the window. Off in the distance lightning flashed as the rain battered against the vehicle as it traveled the hollowed streets. Every now and then you would see a shadow emerge from the buildings to watch the truck go by. I looked back up to Theo, he was considerably beautiful for a man, with features chiseled nicely with a strong yet almost graceful square chin that was now shaded with a few days worth of a beard. And his eyes were the color of melted silver, churning with tiredness and something dark that were framed by long dark eyelashes. His rich coffee hair needed to be cut soon, just under the curls of his hair I noticed a vein pumping faintly under his tanned skin that showed off his Hispanic heritage.

"Lia?"

"Hmm?" I forced myself to look away, embarrassed that I had been caught staring.

"Can you stop looking at me like I'm a free buffet?" a weary smile as he pulled the canvas bag from beside him, taking out a few sticks of jerky and handing two to me. I nodded absently and chewed on the dried meat.

As I chewed on it I looked out the window, it had been a close call. I hadn't been in a situation like that in years. I had to give the rats credit, using the dogs against us was something I would have never thought of. I sneered at the rain that pelted the cab; I could feel in the pit of my stomach a war was brewing. The rats knew everything about me while I knew nothing about them or their dwindling population. How many were still out there? I toed off my boots and laid my head against my own personal heater, the cab was getting colder.

What resources did they have? They knew my routine, where I placed my traps. I had to think, what could spur them on to do this; it was only the fear that had kept them at bay but if the fear was gone, if they knew how much this changed things. I was in serious trouble, we were in serious trouble.

I closed my eyes and pulled my jacket over my curled body, my mind becoming groggy and overworked. "We can't go back, they found another entrance…it was an ambush."


End file.
